Peter Millard (1932-2001)
Files
Dublin Core
Title
Peter Millard (1932-2001)
Description
Peter Millard was an academic, an art writer, a collector and a champion of human rights. Born in Clevendon, Wales, Peter received his higher education at McGill and Oxford before accepting an appointment in the Department of English at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon in 1962. He specialized in the literature and culture of the 18th century and was the author of many articles, papers and two books. Possessing "elegant manners, exquisite taste, and good politics", he was a man of diverse interests, an avid art collector and a fierce defender of the less fortunate and unfairly wronged.
He studied and wrote widely about the visual arts, was a mentor to artists, a patron of the arts in Saskatoon, and a major donor to Prairie art galleries. He served his university in many ways, including chair of the Faculty Association, the Department of English, and the Art Committee, and don of residence. In all his positions, he exuded a rare combination of graciousness, wisdom, kindness and utter fearlessness.
At his memorial it was noted his influence "was decisive in the cause of human rights across Canada". In the early 1970s he embraced the emerging gay community in Saskatoon, helped found the Gay Community Centre in the city, then the Gay Academic Union at the university, and taught its first course in gay and lesbian literature. He was a leader in most of the early battles to advance equal rights for gays and lesbians in the province, and president in 1980-1981 of the Saskatchewan Association on Human Rights. At the time of his death he was co-chair of the board of Saskatoon's Gay and Lesbian Health Services, an organization he had long supported.
Peter Millard died in Saskatoon on 8 December 2001 after a short battle with a rare form of leukemia. (2003 Induction Statement)
Universitaire, écrivain sur les arts, collectionneur, champion des droits de la personne en Saskatchewan, cofondateur du Centre communautaire gai de Saskatoon et de Gay Academic Union à l'Université de la Saskatchewan.
He studied and wrote widely about the visual arts, was a mentor to artists, a patron of the arts in Saskatoon, and a major donor to Prairie art galleries. He served his university in many ways, including chair of the Faculty Association, the Department of English, and the Art Committee, and don of residence. In all his positions, he exuded a rare combination of graciousness, wisdom, kindness and utter fearlessness.
At his memorial it was noted his influence "was decisive in the cause of human rights across Canada". In the early 1970s he embraced the emerging gay community in Saskatoon, helped found the Gay Community Centre in the city, then the Gay Academic Union at the university, and taught its first course in gay and lesbian literature. He was a leader in most of the early battles to advance equal rights for gays and lesbians in the province, and president in 1980-1981 of the Saskatchewan Association on Human Rights. At the time of his death he was co-chair of the board of Saskatoon's Gay and Lesbian Health Services, an organization he had long supported.
Peter Millard died in Saskatoon on 8 December 2001 after a short battle with a rare form of leukemia. (2003 Induction Statement)
Universitaire, écrivain sur les arts, collectionneur, champion des droits de la personne en Saskatchewan, cofondateur du Centre communautaire gai de Saskatoon et de Gay Academic Union à l'Université de la Saskatchewan.
Creator
Lionel Trudel
Publisher
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Date
2003
Format
Medium: black and white photograph
Dimensions: 26 x 36.5 cm (W x H)
Dimensions: 26 x 36.5 cm (W x H)
Identifier
055
Citation
Lionel Trudel, “Peter Millard (1932-2001),” The ArQuives Digital Exhibitions, accessed April 18, 2024, https://digitalexhibitions.arquives.ca/items/show/111.